Editing Application-specific integrated circuit (section)

{{Short description|Integrated circuit customized for a specific task}}
{{Redirect|ASIC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2018}}
[[File:SSDTR-ASIC technology.jpg|thumb|A tray of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips]]
[[File:Network traffic processing ASIC inside an Ethernet switch.jpg|thumb|A packet processing ASIC inside an Ethernet switch]]
An '''application-specific integrated circuit''' ('''ASIC''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|s|ɪ|k}}) is an [[integrated circuit]] (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a [[digital voice recorder]] or a high-efficiency [[video codec]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Golshan |first=Khosrow |title=Physical Design Essentials: An ASIC Design Implementation Perspective |date=2007 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-387-36642-5 |location=Boston, MA}}</ref> [[#Application-specific standard product|Application-specific standard product]] chips are intermediate between ASICs and industry standard integrated circuits like the [[7400 series]] or the [[4000 series]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Barr |first=Keith |url=https://archive.org/details/asicdesigninsili0000barr |title=ASIC Design in the Silicon Sandbox: A Complete Guide to Building Mixed-signal Integrated Circuits |date=2007 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-148161-8 |location=New York |oclc=76935560 |url-access=registration}}</ref> ASIC chips are typically [[semiconductor device fabrication|fabricated]] using [[metal–oxide–semiconductor]] (MOS) technology, as [[MOS integrated circuit]] chips.<ref name="computerhistory1967"/>

As feature sizes have shrunk and [[Electronic design automation|chip design tools]] improved over the years, the maximum complexity (and hence functionality) possible in an ASIC has grown from 5,000 [[logic gate]]s to over 100 million. Modern ASICs often include entire [[Central processing unit|microprocessors]], [[memory]] blocks including [[Read-only memory|ROM]], [[Random-access memory|RAM]], [[EEPROM]], [[flash memory]] and other large building blocks. Such an ASIC is often termed a SoC ([[system-on-chip]]). Designers of digital ASICs often use a [[hardware description language]] (HDL), such as [[Verilog]] or [[VHDL]], to describe the functionality of ASICs.<ref name=":0" />

[[Field-programmable gate array]]s (FPGA) are the modern-day technology improvement on [[breadboard]]s, meaning that they are not made to be application-specific as opposed to ASICs. Programmable [[Logic block|logic blocks]] and programmable interconnects allow the same FPGA to be used in many different applications. For smaller designs or lower production volumes, FPGAs may be more cost-effective than an ASIC design, even in production. The [[non-recurring engineering]] (NRE) cost of an ASIC can run into the millions of dollars. Therefore, device manufacturers typically prefer FPGAs [[FPGA prototyping|for prototyping]] and devices with low production volume and ASICs for [[mass production|very large production volumes]] where NRE costs can be [[Amortized cost|amortized]] across many devices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eetimes.com/fpgas-vs-asics/|title=FPGA's vs. ASIC's|date=13 September 2004|website=[[EE Times]]|first=Jeff|last=Kriegbaum}}</ref>